Sports ministry awaiting comments from the international Olympic council (IOC) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on national sports development bill 2013, said Ajit Mohan Sharan, Secretary, Ministry of Sports at an event organised by industry body Assocham held in New Delhi.

In next few days, the sports ministry will also have a formal dialogue with new IOA to take them on board and take it forward, said Sharan while inaugurating the National Conference on Sports & Sports Infrastructure organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

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In terms of infrastructure, the government has recently approved the scheme called “Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan” and likely to be launched very shortly before the election. Over the next 4-5 years, we will see a major expansion at a particular level, said Sharan.

He also commented on the England lottery system and said, “I think we need to have first the public consensus on using the lottery means to generate funds and probably as a nation we are not ready for it”, he further added.

Anurag Thakur, Member of Parliament (LS) said, “being a sports enthusiast, I decided to develop world class infrastructure across my state, Himachal Pradesh and have pledged to build 12 national level cricket stadium in each district- HQ of which five are already operational. I also plan to build nearly 250 playgrounds across the state and upgrade other sports facilities”.

Thankur further said, if world class sports infrastructure can be built at such low costs even in a hilly terrain like Himachal Pradesh, why not across India in every districts?